The Lingering Questions Clinicians often Ask Themselves
You’ve gone through years of schooling, completed supervision, passed your licensing exam, attended the in-service trainings and obtained the certifications, yet, the nagging thoughts of doubting yourself as a clinician still linger:
- Did I make the best clinical call?
- Did this decision serve my client’s best interest?
- What if I don’t know what to say in a session?
- What if I don’t know how to treat this problem?
- How do I break the ice in “silent sessions?”
- What do I do if a client is suicidal and how do I respond appropriately in crisis?
These questions can silently linger in the background, and we’ve all experienced them at some point in our careers.
The #1 Skill That Transforms Your Clinical Work
Weeks ago, we discussed Imposter Syndrome. This week, let’s continue to focus on an antidote. The number one skill that transforms your work as a clinician isn’t more techniques, interventions, certifications, research, or training. It’s trusting yourself.
Trusting yourself shapes your clinical work: the way you practice, interact with clients, and navigate your professional journey. It’s the foundation for confident, effective, and compassionate care.
- Trust in yourself grounds you when the comparison trap tries to pull you in.
- Trust in yourself helps you move forward with presence, assertiveness, and quiet confidence.
- Trust in yourself creates room for self-compassion, even when you’re being hard on yourself.
- Trust in yourself creates room for growth by acknowledging your abilities while being honest about areas for improvement.
What Does “Trusting Yourself” Mean?
Trusting yourself means believing in your own abilities and judgment even when things feel uncertain or challenging. It’s not about having all the answers, but about possessing the ability to navigate complex situations or seek out the answers. A proverb that I frequent often is that humility is the foundation of wisdom. This means that humility is the precedent for wisdom. In order to gain wisdom, humility must first be present. Cultivating trust within yourself means being honest when you don’t know, taking the posture of a learner, and not being afraid to be a student of life. Trusting in self sounds like, “I trust myself to figure it out, and I trust that I still have things to learn.”
Find out how having trust in yourself can help you to fight impostor syndrome.
Ways to Strengthen Self-Trust as a Clinician
If you’ve struggled with a lack of trust in yourself that often shows up as imposter syndrome, you’re not alone. Here are some practical ways to build that trust:
1. You’re not alone. Seek continued clinical and peer supervision.
Although it can feel isolating after graduation and even more so after licensure, you likely have a community of other clinicians nearby. This may include other mental health professionals who work alongside you, or it might mean stepping out to join professional mental health groups or networks. Continue to seek peer consultation, even after graduation and licensure. Some consultation groups are free, while others may charge a small fee.
2. Reframe the belief that you have to know it all.
You don’t have to know everything and you won’t. This doesn’t make you incompetent; it makes you human. Growth as a clinician is more about knowing how to seek out the answers with curiosity and humility.
3. Never Stop Learning
Sometimes the urge to avoid things that make us uncomfortable feels all too familiar and very real. However, running toward the situations you feel less equipped for can help you build the skills you need. Don’t shy away from certain populations or presenting problems simply because they feel intimidating. Instead, move toward them. Become an expert in those areas, or at least develop a solid working knowledge.
Part of developing self-trust comes from leaning into discomfort rather than avoiding it. It’s natural to feel nervous or uncertain when facing challenging clinical situations. When I first graduated, I remember feeling anxious about certain sessions. But leaning into those experiences helped me grow, gain confidence, and strengthen my clinical skills.
Continuing education is another valuable way to build knowledge in specific areas. Earlier, I mentioned that more certifications and training won’t automatically create self-trust and that’s true for clinicians who continue pursuing training after training yet still doubt their abilities. However, if you haven’t yet sought additional education or training in a particular area, doing so can absolutely enhance your confidence and competence and, in turn, strengthen your self-trust.
4. Self-trust grows through experience
Each session, challenge, and client interaction helps build your confidence and reinforces your belief in your abilities. By encountering different situations, you learn what works, what doesn’t, and how to improve for next time.
5. Make Room for Mistakes
Accept that you will occasionally make mistakes:
- Moments when your words didn’t land as intended.
- Wishing you had said something you held back from saying.
- Thinking of better ways to handle past sessions
- Facing challenging crises
Make space for all future mistakes and learn from past ones. They will happen. Trust yourself to grow from them rather than be paralyzed by them.
6. Trust Your Gut
Your intuition and clinical judgment is a valuable tool. It tells you when to probe deeper, when to slow down, or when a client needs something different than what you had planned.
7. Go Off Script When Needed
Sometimes all the textbooks you’ve read don’t capture the human in front of you. Trusting yourself allows you to adjust, pivot, and meet your clients where they are.
8. Respond Confidently in Crisis
In crisis situations, trusting yourself provides the clarity and courage to act decisively and to rely on your training, professional judgment, and intuition to respond effectively and protect your clients.
9. Avoid the Comparison Trap
It’s easy to measure yourself against other clinicians. But trusting your own expertise and experience keeps you grounded in what you uniquely bring to your work.
10. Identify Your Clinical Superpower
Know where your strength lies as a clinician. What is your clinical superpower? What do you bring to your sessions that transform your work and client experiences? Once you identify it, your trust in yourself is strengthened by your ability and willingness to show up authentically, wholly, and fully. Bringing your authentic self into sessions helps clients connect with you. They don’t want someone you’re not. They want you, the real you.
Ultimately, cultivating trust in yourself allows you to silence the voice of imposter syndrome and show up fully and authentically for your clients, your practice, and your own professional growth. When you trust yourself, everything changes.
Discover how to identify your clinical superpowers
Taylor May
I help people show up fully and unapologetically, stop playing small, and create the life they truly want. What lies on the other side of your biggest fears, your greatest doubts, and your deepest hurts? In our work together, you’ll learn to stop fearing what others think, set healthy boundaries, and step confidently into your own strength.